Preparing your Toy Hauler for Spring
It’s coming ladies and gentlemen. Time to hit the road with your toy hauler for this year’s camping season! Before you get too caught up in the excitement of it all, make sure your toy hauler is properly prepared for spring. There are probably some pre-storage prep steps you’ll have to undo before your RV is ready, so follow the guide below from Golden Gait Trailers & RVs. We’ll walk you through some of the most important steps and answer any of your remaining questions at our location in Concord, North Carolina, serving Raleigh and Charlotte.
Complete Inspection
First and foremost, you’ll need to perform a thorough inspection. Every inch of your toy hauler needs to be checked for any signs of damage that may have accrued over the cold months. Even though you weren’t using it, things like extreme weather, pest invasions, and plain old wear and tear can still damage your RV. You might even encounter an issue that was missed before you put the trailer in storage.
Check all moving parts like windows, doors, slide-outs, and awnings to ensure they’re still working properly and are well-lubricated. Inspect your tires and check psi levels to see if they’re ready for the road. Ventilate your toy hauler to get some fresh air moving through the rig. The garage, or bay, is also going to need a thorough inspection and you’ll want to test the door to make sure it’s going to smoothly travel up and down. In general, you’ll want to look for signs that you might encounter a serious problem on the road, so you can take care of it now.
Test your Appliances
Start this step by hooking up to a power source. Run all your appliances for some time (keeping the toy hauler ventilated) and check for signs of underperformance. This could be an appliance that seems to have lost some steam, doesn’t act the way it used to, or even an appliance that makes a strange noise. You’ll also want to run your heating and cooling systems. Find any power devices that aren’t connected to the electrical system and test them to see if they’re underperforming as well, such as flashlights and emergency radios.
Prepare Your Plumbing System
Odds are you added antifreeze to your plumbing system before putting your toy hauler in storage for the winter. Now it’s time to undo all that. Definitely don’t leave this to flush out on its own. Antifreeze is toxic to humans, so make sure to clear out your pipes ahead of time.
Use a hose to pressure your lines and flush them out thoroughly. To sanitize your freshwater tank, fill it up and add a quarter-cup of bleach for every fifteen gallons of water. Run water through the system until you can smell bleach, meaning the solution is now covering your pipes. Let this sit for at least eight hours, and then flush it out one final time.
See a Professional
As you’re preparing for spring, you might encounter a repair or problem that you’re not exactly equipped to handle, whether you don’t have the tools or the know-how. That’s when it’s time to see a professional technician. They’ll help you get ready for the camping season. They can even perform their own inspection to look for problem areas that you might have missed.
Once this is all complete, it’ll be time to load your toy hauler and hit the road. Don’t have a toy hauler? Then stop by Golden Gait Trailers & RVs so we can show you the models we have available right now. We welcome all current and future RV owners from Raleigh, Charlotte, and Concord, North Carolina.